Continuous mining machine



J. GONSKI CONTINUOUS MINING MACHINE Nov. 15, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 22, 1964 zwvsmox. ose 0b 'oms/ 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1964 INVENTOR. dose 06 6Ems,/

Nov. 15 1966 J. GONSKI 3,285,664

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Nov. 15, 1966 J. GONSKI CONTINUOUS MINING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 22, 1964 x Y J m Y B O O O TOMS United States Patent 3,285,664 CONTINUOUS MINING MACHINE Joseph Gonski, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 22, 1964, Ser. No. 361,729 6 Claims. (Cl. 29957) This invention relates to improvements in continuous mining machines of the boring type and more particularly relates to a continuous mining machine adapted for mining thin seams of coal and is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 193,405, filed May 9, 1962, now Patent No. 3,140,121 dated July 7, 1964 and entitled, Continuous Mining Machine.

A principal object of the invention is to improve upon the boring types of continuous mining machines heretofore used in mining thin seams of coal, by providing the machine with a central boring head between outer boring heads and so constructed and arranged that it will not only feed back its own material onto the conveyor of the machine, but will also .feed back the material mined by the outer boring heads.

Another object of the invention is to provide a continuous mining machine of the type in which the cutting capacity of the machine for a given cutting height, is increased to the extent necessary to make it practical to mine thin seams of coal, by spacing the usual boring heads a relatively wide distance apart and by providing a central boring head between these boring heads, including a scroll extending substantially to the conveyor of the machine to load the mined material onto the conveyor A still further object of the invention is to improve upon continuous mining machines having three boring heads, by arranging the boring heads to cut in intersecting paths, and by utilizing a scroll for the central boring head and so driving the scroll and arranging the boring arms of the outer boring heads, to pass into the valleys of the scroll during rotation of the outer boring heads.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a continuous mining machine particularly adapted to mine thin seams of coal in which two outer boring heads are spaced at relatively wide distances apart and a central scroll extends between these boring heads and in advance thereof and mines a central trough tangent to the bottoms of the bores cut by the outer boring heads and forming a conveying trough for the cuttings produced by the outer boring heads, for backward transfer of the cuttings to the conveyor of the machine by the center scroll.

A further and important object of the invention is to provide an improved form of multiple boring type of continuous mining machine so constructed and arranged as to provide an uninterrupted throat for the conveyor of the machine by utilizing axially spaced rotary cusp cutters for mining the two floor cusps, and providing a space therebetween ahead of the conveyor throat.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a continuous mining machine of the boring type having two Widely spaced side boring heads and a central scroll extending between the side boring heads and in advance thereof and having a cutter bar extending across the for-' ward end thereof and radially beyond the scroll to drive a bore in advance of the side boring heads and form a central floor-carved trough receiving the cuttings from the central bore as well as the cuttings from the side boring heads, and so arranged that the scroll tops the material in These and other objects of the invention will appear ICC from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a continuous mining machine constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, with the discharge conveyor broken away.

FIGURE 2 is a front end view of the continuous mining machine shown in FIGURE 1, looking forward the front end of the machine, and showing the machine positioned in a mine to perform a mining operation;

FIGURE 3 is a partial fragementary longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along line IIIIII of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the cutting patterns of the boring head-s;

FIGURE 5 is a front end view of a continuous mining machine somewhat similar to the machine shown in FIG- URE 1, and illustrating a modified form in which the invention may be embodied;

FIGURE 6 is a partial longitudinal sectional view somewhat similar to FIGURE 3, but illustrating certain details of the modified form of the invention showin in FIG- URE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the cutting patterns of the boring heads of the form of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, I have shown in FIGURE 1, a continuous mining machine of the boring type having a mobile main frame 10, supported on laterally spaced continuous traction tread devices 11, which serve to tram the machine from working place to working place and to feed outer boring heads 12 and a central boring head 13 into the working face of a mine. The continuous traction tread devices 11 are of a conventional form and are driven from individual motors and speed reducers (not shown) in a manner well known to those skilled in the art, so not herein shown or described further.

The mining machine also includes a cutter frame structure 15 supported on and extending ahead of the main frame 10. The cutter frame structure 15 is vertically adjustable with respect to the main frame 10 and angularly adjustable about axes extending transversely and longitudinally of the main frame by the operation of fluid pressure jacks 16, and forms no part of the present invention so is not herein shown or described further.

The cutter frame structure 15 has a plurality of outer hubs 17, 17 and a central hub 18 projecting forwardly therefrom, forming supports for the respective boring heads 12 and 13.

The machine also has a conveyor 19 extending therealong from a position adjacent the ground at the front of the machine and just rearwardly of a transverse support 20 for a lower trimmer bar 21, extending substantially the width of the machine and rearwardly of the boring heads 12, 12 and 13, and forming a guide means for a con-tinuous trimmer chain 23. The conveyor 19 extends along a throat 24 formed in the cutter frame 15 between the boring heads 12, 12 and in alignment with the central boring head 13, and beneath a bottom wall 25 of said cutter frame.

The conveyor 19 is shown as being a conventional form of single strand endless chain and flight conveyor of the laterally flexible type, and extends along the central portion of the main frame 10 beyond the rear end thereof, and is laterally moved from sideato-side to discharge the mined material to either side of the longitudinal center line of the machine by operation of the usual hydraulic jacks 27. The hydraulic jacks are pivotally connected between opposite sides of a widened portion 29 of the bottom plate for the conveyor 19 and opposite side walls of a laterally swingable trough section 30 for the conveyor.

An upper trim mer bar 31 is mounted on the cutter frame in advance of the forward end thereof in vertical alignment with the lower trimmer bar 21, on hydraulic jacks 32. The hydraulic jacks 32 are mounted on the front face of the cutter frame 15 and serve to vertically adjust said trimmer bar with respect to said cutter frame, and to hold said trimmer bar in position during the cutting operation.

-The trimmer chain 23 is trained along the lower trimmer bar 21 and around corner sprockets 33 at opposite ends of said trimmer bar and inwardly therefrom. The run of the trimmer chain 23 shown in FIGURE 2 as being the right hand run of said trimmer chain is trained around an idler sprocket 35 and outwardly and upwardly therefrom around a corner sprocket 36 to and along the trimmer bar 31. A corner sprocket 36 at the opposite end of the upper trimmer bar 31 serves to change the direction of said trimmer chain at the end of said trimmer bar as it moves along said trimmer bar. A drive sprocket 39 is positioned at the opposite side of the central boring head 13 from the idler sprocket 35 and serves to drive said trimmer chain along the upper and lower trimmer bars 21 and 31 to cut the depending and upstanding cusps between the boring heads 12 and 13.

Each boring head 12 is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 as having a diametrically extending boring arm 40 extending equal distances from opposite sides of a hub 42 of the boring head and shown as having telescopic arms 41 extending therefrom. The telescopic arms 41 are held in fixed relation with respect to the boring arm 40 and are extensibly and retractibly moved with respect to said boring arm by a conventional form of adjusting mechanism, which is no part of the present invention so need not herein be shown or described.

Each boring head also has a central annular cutter 43- projecting forwardly of the boring arm 40, coaxial with the axis of rotation thereof, and having cutter bits 44 mounted thereon and projecting forwardly therefrom for cutting an annular kerf adjacent the center of the seam.

The telescopic arms 41 have cutter supports 45 projecting forwardly therefrom, and of an arcuate form in front end view, conforming to the arc of travel of said cutter supports. The cutter supports 45 have the usual cutter bits 46 projecting therefrom. The bits 44 and 46 are pitched to cut annular kerfs intersecting the bore made by the central boring head 13 upon rotation of the boring heads in a direction from the roof to the floor of the mine and toward the center of the machine.

Each cutter support 45 has a plow 47 extending inwardly from the advance end portion thereof toward the center of rotation of the boring head. The plow 47 extends angularly inwardly from the advance end of the cutter support 45 toward the telescopic arm 41, and is pitched to progress the mined material into and along a bore 48 cut by the central boring head 13, to be progressed by said central boring head onto the conveyor 19.

The central boring head 13 projects a substantial distance forwardly of the boring heads 12 and forms a pilot boring cutter. The central boring head 13, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, comprises a sleeve 50 extending from the hub 18 and mounted on and driven from a shaft 51 journalled within said hub. The sleeve 50 is shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 as having a bar 53 extending across the forward end thereof, equal distances from the center thereof and having cutter bit supporting blocks 54 spaced therealong and extending forwardly therefrom. The blocks 54 have the usual cutter bits 55 mounted therein and extending forwardly therefrom.

A scroll 56 in the form of a helical vane is shown as extending from the bar 53 along the sleeve 50 in a helical path to a position rearwardly of the arms 40 of the boring heads 12, 12, and terminating adjacent the forward veyor 19 and throat 24, for progressing the mined material to said throat and conveyor.

The scroll 56 has cutter blocks 57 mounted on the advance face thereof and projecting from the edge thereof. The cutter blocks 57 carry the .usual cutter bits 59. The bar 53 of the central boring head 13 is of sufficient length to position the outer cutter bits 55 to cut in circumferential paths of sufficient diameter to intersect the cutting paths of the cutter bits 46 of the boring arms 41 and the cutting paths of the upper and lower trimmer bars 31 and 21 respectively. In a similar manner, the cutting diameters of the outer cutter -bits 59 on the scroll 56 are sufiicient to position said outer cutter bits to cut in paths intersected by the cutting paths of the cutter bits 46 on the boring arms 41 and the cutter chain 23 guided in the upper and lower trimmer bars 31 and 21 respectively.

It may be seen from FIGURES 2 and 4 that the diametral boring arms 40 of the outer boring heads 12 are positioned with the boring arm 40 of one boring head trailing the boring arm 40 of the opposite boring head by 90, and that the cutter supports 45 project a substantial distance inwardly of the cutting paths of the bits 55 and 59 of the central boring head 13. The scroll 56 extending in a helical path along the sleeve 50 thus forms spaced peaks 60 and valleys 61 therebetween extending along said sleeve. The linear space between said peaks is greater than the length of the cutter supports 45 and cutter bits 46 projecting forwardly of said cutter supports, to accommodate said cutter supports to move thereinto without interfering with said scroll.

The outer boring head 12, 12 and the central boring head 13 must thus be driven in timed relation with respect to each other. With the arrangement of boring heads shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, the central boring head 13 is driven at twice the speed of rotation of the outer boring heads 12. This not only permits the three boring heads to cut in intersecting paths without interfering with each other but also gives the scroll 56 the speed to progress the material mined by said central boring head and by the two outer boring heads rearwardly along the bore for discharge onto the conveyor 19.

Two motors 65 are provided to drive the three boring heads 12 and 13. As shown in FIGURE 1, the motors 65 are mounted on the main frame 10 and extend along opposite sides of the conveyor 19. Extensible universal drive members 66 are driven from the motors 65 and extend forwardly therefrom and drive pinions 67, 67 journalled in the cutter support 15. The pinions 67 form the drive members for gear trains 69, 69. meshing with and driving a common spur gear 70, keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 51, for driving said shaft. A spur gear 71 on the shaft 51 forms the drive member for gear trains 73, driving the outer boring heads 12 in opposite directions at half the speed of rotation of the central boring head 13.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 5, 6 and 7, I have shown a machine similar to that shown in FIGURES 1 through 4 except the upper trimmer bar has been replaced by an oscillating cutter plate and the lower trimmer bar has been replaced by right and left hand rotary cusp cutters 81 and 82 including conveying spirals 83 having cutter bits 84 projecting The orbital cutter plate 80 extends between and behind the outer boring heads 12 and across and behind the inner boring head 130, and has a series of cutter bits 85 mounted thereon. The cutter bits 85 extend upwardly and forwardly from the cutter plate 80 to cut the cusps depending from the mine roof between the boring heads 12, 130 and 12. The onbital cutter plate 80 is mounted. at its opposite ends on crank pins 86, 86 mounted eccentrically of the center of rotably driven disks 87, and rotatably driven by said disks to drive the orbital cutter plate 80 and cutter bits 85 in an orbital path along the roof and faces of the depending cusps, in a cutting direction, which is shown in FIGURE 5 as being from left to right, when facing the machine.

Each disk 87 is mounted on the outer end of a drive shaft 88 suitably journalled within the cutter frame 15 and extending outwardly therefrom. The shaft 88 is driven from gear 71 on the shaft 51 through a train of meshing gears 89 (FIGURE 6).

The scrolls 81 and 82 are journalled at their outer ends in the gear housings and bearing supports 90, spaced laterally from opposite sides of the conveyor 19 and suitably connected to the frame structure for the conveyor by outboard support structures 91 extending laterally from opposite sides of the conveyor.

As shown in FIGURE 6, the scrolls 81 and 82 are driven from the conveyor 19 through a shaft 93 having a direction changing sprocket 94 thereon and driven from the conveyor 19, as it changes its direction of travel, to travel in a conveying direction rearwardly along the main frame of the machine beyond the rear end thereof. A separate gear train 95, journalled in each housing 90 and driven from each end of the shaft 93is provided to drive the scrolls 81 and 82, to trim the cusps upstanding from the mine floor, to the level of the floor, and to progress the mined material toward the center of the machine, to be picked up by the conveyor 19.

The central boring head 130, is of a construction similar to that of the central boring head 13 and comprises a sleeve 96 extending from the hub 18 and mounted on and driven from the shaft 51 journalled within said hub. The sleeve 96 has a bar 97 extending radially across the forward end thereof, equal distance from the center thereof, and like the bar 53, except that it extends to opposite sides of the center of rotation of the sleeve 96 a distance sufiicient to make a central boring cut from the mine floor to the mine roof, and to thereby form a trough 99 in the coal, the bottom of which is on floor level. The bar 97 has cutter blocks 100 spaced therealong and extending forwardly therefrom. The cutter blocks 100 have the usual cutter bits 101 mounted therein and extending forwardly therefrom. In FIGURES 5 and 6 the outer cutter blocks 100 are shown as being inclined outwardly with respect to the bar 97, to position their cutter bits 101 to cut clearance for said bar, and to define the outer margin of the bore cut by said bar.

A scroll 103 in the form of a helical vane, like the scroll 56, is shown as extending from the bar 97 along the sleeve 96 in a helical path to a position rearwardly of the boring heads 12, 12 and terminating adjacent the forward end portion of the hub 18 and closely adjacent the conveyor 19 and throat 24. The scroll 103 extends radially of the center of the sleeve 96 a lesser distance than the cutter bar 97 and serves to convey the cuttings cut by the cutter bar 97 rearwardly along the trough 99 and also to convey the cuttings forced into said trough by the end boring heads 12, 12 to the conveyor 19 and to in effect trim the cuttings in the trough 99 and maintain a flow of mined material along said though to the conveyor 19.

The boring arms 40 of the outer boring heads 12 are rotated 90 out of phase relation with respect to each other and move into the valleys between the helical peaks of the scroll, as in the form of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 4. The outer boring heads 12 are also driven at half the speed of rotation of the central boring head 130, to not only allow the three boring heads to cut in intersecting paths without interfering with each other, but also to give the scroll 103 sufficient conveying capacity to progress the material mined by the central boring head and by the outer boring heads, rearwardly along the bore for loading onto the conveyor 19.

In both forms of the invention, the center boring head cuts a temporary trough in front of the two side boring heads, and the cuttings produced by the side cutting boring heads are swept over the tops of the bottom cusps by the plows 47 into the trough for backward transfer by the scroll.

The primary function of the scroll in both forms of the invention, therefore, is to make enough room in the trough to receive the cuttings from the side boring heads and to hold the cuttings in line to be picked up by the conveyor 19, as the machine advances.

In the modified form of the invention, however, the cutter bar 97 of the central boring head carves a trough in the floor at the ultimate floor level, that is, at a level tangent to the bottoms of the bores cut by the two side boring heads. This provides a deeper temporary floor carved trough to hold cuttings in alignment with the conveyor throat and reduces the cusp cutting job needed by the lower cusp-cutters. As a result, only two short rotary cutters 81 aligned with the lower cusps are required to mine out the cusps, and the cusp cutters stop short of the front of the conveyor throat itself, providing a free space in front of the throat, to accommodate the cuttings to be readily loaded onto the conveyor. The rotary cusp cutters thus convey the cuttings towards the throat, and thereby facilitate the transfer of the cuttings onto the conveyor 19.

It may further be seen that since the scroll 103 is of lesser diameter than the cutting diameter of the cutter bar 97, the center boring head may readily be moved out of contact with the roof and floor, when it is desired to tram the machine, by simply rotating it to a level position, as shown in FIGURE 5. The side boring heads may then be retracted.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which the invention may be embodied, it may readily be understood that various variations and modifications in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof I claim as my invention:

1. In a continuous mining machine, a main frame, a cutter frame mounted on said main frame, two laterally spaced boring heads mounted on said cutter frame and extending in advance thereof, upper and lower trimmer cutting means mounted on said cutter frame behind said boring heads and being effective to cut along the roof and floor of a mine between said boring heads, a central boring head between said boring heads having a cutting diameter of substantially the cutting diameter of said laterally spaced boring heads, to produce a substantial temporary floor carved trough, a scroll behind said central boring head and extending rearwardly therefrom along said trough and carrying the cuttings along said trough back to said conveyor, means on said side boring heads effective to transfer the cuttings transversely into said trough for backward removal by said scroll, and said trimmer cutting means cutting along the floor of the mine to eliminate the temporary floor-carved trough as the mining operation advances.

2. In a continuous mining machine, a main frame, a cutter frame mounted on said main frame, pilot boring means mounted on and extending in advance of said main frame and effective to cut a floor level central bore in advance of the machine, conveying scroll means extending behind said pilot boring means and effective to transfer the cuttings backwardly along the bottom of said cen tral bore, side boring means being mounted on said cutter frame and flanking said pilot boring means at a distance 7 behind the latter and effective to cut a pair of side bores flanking the central bore, with a pair of upstanding floor cusps between the side and central bores, to define a floorcarved central trough between said cusps, means on said side boring means for transferring the cuttings from said side bores up over said cusps into said central trough into position to be transferred by said scroll backwardly toward the main conveyor throat, and cusp cutting means flanking the conveyor throat and aligned with said cusps behind said side boring means and effective to cut the floor level cusps substantially level with the bottoms of the central and side bores, to eliminate the floor-carved trough after it has served the function of confining the cuttings for transfer to the main conveyor throat.

3. In a continuous mining machine, a main frame, a cutter frame mounted on said main frame, a central rotary boring head mounted on said main frame and extending in advance thereof, for cutting at floor level, to produce a substantial floor-carved trough, a conveyor extending along said main frame and having a receiving end disposed beneath said cutter frame in alignment with said central boring head, a scroll extending behind said central boring head and carrying the cuttings in said trough back to said conveyor, two laterally spaced side boring heads mounted on said cutter frame on opposite sides of said central boring head and transferring the cuttings transversely into said trough, for backward removal by said scroll, and means spaced behind said boring heads for cutting at floor level and thereby eliminating the temporary floor-carved trough.

4. A continuous mining machine in accordance with claim 3 in which the means for cutting out the cusps comprise rotary cusp cutter means between said conveyor and said side boring heads.

5. A continuous mining machine in accordance with claim 3 in which the means spaced behind the boring heads for cutting out the cusps comprise two axially aligned, spaced rotary cusps cutters, rotatable about axes extending transversely of the axes of rotation of said side boring heads and disposed between the receiving end of said conveyor and said side cutting boring heads, and terminating at their inner margins adjacent the receiving end of said conveyor, to provide a clear space in front of said conveyor.

6. A continuous mining machine in accordance with claim 3 in which the means for cutting out the floor cusps to eliminate the temporary-carved trough, comprises two axially aligned spaced rotary cusp cutters extending transversely of the axes of rotation of said boring heads and terminating at their inner margins adjacent opposite sides of the receiving end of the conveyor, to provide a clear space in front of said conveyor, and having conveyor screws extending therealong effective to move the cuttings inwardly into the space in front of the conveyor.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,750,175 6/1956 Cartlidge 29957 2,862,700 12/1958 Gonski 299-57 2,868,526 1/1959 Jamison et a1. 29959 3,140,121 7/1964 Gonski 29957 ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary Examiner. 

3. IN A CONTINUOUS MINING MACHINE, A MAIN FRAME, A CUTTER FRAME MOUNTED ON SAID MAIN FRAME, A CENTRAL ROTARY BORING HEAD MOUNTED ON SAID MAIN FRAME AND EXTENDING IN ADVANCE THEREOF, FOR CUTTING AT FLOOR LEVEL, TO PRODUCE A SUBSTANTIAL FLOOR-CARVED TROUGH, A CONVEYOR EXTENDING ALONG SAID MAIN FRAME AND HAVING A RECEIVING END DISPOSED BENEATH SAID CUTTER FRAME IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID CENTRAL BORING HEAD, A SCROLL EXTENDING BEHIND SAID CENTRAL BORING HEAD AND CARRYING THE CUTTINGS IN SAID TROUGH BACK TO SAID CONVEYOR, TWO LATERALLY SPACED SIDE BORING HEADS 